As Kellen Moore heads into his first training camp, he's keeping his sights set close in front.
There's a lot to accomplish, as he told Mike Detillier and Steve Geller on WWL Radio, but it's important to build from the ground up.
“I think the start of our training camp will be really focused on building a really good foundation from a schematic standpoint," Moore said.
Hear the full, exclusive interview with Saints head coach Kellen Moore in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Getting the fine details nailed down will be as important this year as ever, with a new offense and defense to learn and a host of young players filling key roles. That includes the most important position at QB, a job that will be won by one of rookie Tyler Shough, second-year pro Spencer Rattler or third-year pro Jake Haener.
The focus will shift a bit once the team gets through the preseason opener against the Chargers, after which the regular season will land more in the sights.
"We’ll be getting as many guys opportunities as early in this camp as possible," Moore said, "and those young guys will get a ton of reps and they’ll be ready to roll and we’re excited to see them.”
The Saints kick off their preseason slate of practices on Wednesday in Metairie, where they'll hold their first 10 sessions of camp before shipping out to California for another 10 practices sandwiching that preseason opener against the Chargers.
More from Moore
How will you manage the heat during camp?
“Certainly it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s a part of the experience here in Louisiana, but I think it’s a huge opportunity and an advantage for us to train in this heat because it’ll test us, which will be a really, really good thing. It’ll put us in a really good position where training camp is a time where you do need to stress your body in some capacity. I think we’ve got phenomenal support from a training staff and sports performance perspective. I think we’ve got an excellent plan put together to get some really good work down here and I think the other awesome aspect of it is we get a chance to be in front of our fans for a number of days through the next couple weeks so we’re fired up to be a part of that.”
What are you looking for in the QB battle?
“I thought these [young QBs] have just knocked it out of the park from an offseason program perspective. I thought they did an excellent job during OTAs, their summer. You can tell these guys just put a ton of work into this thing and for this opportunity and so we’re excited to just let these guys go for it. I think as far as the evaluation there’s the physical component, which all of us can see and we’ll all see, and I think these guys can all make all the throws that they need to make.
“So much of this thing I think comes down to the operation of the offense, the decision-making and the consistency, and that’s really what we’ll continue to evaluate and I think part of training camp, part of preseason games is these guys facing a little bit of adversity. Sometimes you’re going to throw an interception in training camp and that’s OK. How do they respond? You know, and I think that’s a really good test for us to see these guys go in all these different situations and we’ll let it play out.”
On Tyrann Mathieu's retirement
“His impact on this game has been huge, and his impact on this community has been huge and being a guy within the NFL as a player and a coach and watching his career from afar and competing against him in different capacities, he’s just had such a huge impact. He’s been a premiere player in this league and I think a lot of times these are hard decisions for guys. Ultimately this game does end for everyone from a playing perspective either by your own choice or by someone else’s choice, and so for him to have an opportunity and kind of go out on his own terms and really for a chance for all of us just to celebrate just a phenomenal career.’
